Also known as "The Cottage in the Wood", "Love, Let Me In" or "It Hails, It Rains", this song tells a very familiar story found in many folk songs. It has been performed over the years by Frank Hinchliffe, George Withers and also by Martin Carthy, although the version he sings is significantly longer and has a rather more brutal ending. I learnt it at Forest School Camps.
lyrics
LYRICS:
It's forty long miles I've traveled this day,
I saw a fine cottage beside the highway,
Such that I never seen before,
Such that I never seen before.
I boldly stepped up and I knocked at the door,
And a pretty young lassie skipped over the floor,
Such that I never had seen before,
Such that I never had seen before.
"Oh it hails and rains and snows and blows,
And I am wet through all my clothes.
So I pray you please let me in,
So I pray you please let me in.”
“Oh no, oh no, that never can be,
For no one's awake in this house but me.
So I dare not let you in,
So I dare not let you in.
My mother and father are fast asleep,
My brother is out, he is watching the sheep,
So I dare not let you in,
So I dare not let you in."
Well I turned myself around to go,
Till kind affection she did show,
Saying "Come on, I'll let you in",
Saying "Come on I'll let you in."
“Take off you wet and put on your dry,
Then go to my bed and quietly lie.
And shortly I will be there,
And shortly I will be there.”
They spent the night in sweet content,
And the very next day to the hills they went,
And he loved her for all of his days,
And he loved her for all of his days.
Roary Skaista is a queer folk musician based in Oxford, performing traditional folk songs as well as their own material on
the themes of love, nature and diversity.
supported by 4 fans who also own “Forty Long Miles”
TTBT has some of my favorite songs written by The Mechs. Iphis is my personal favorite due to its ties with Greek Mythology, but it's definitely an album I have on repeat constantly. yumeinati
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